As a little girl Denise Barrett-Baxendale and her sisters made blue and white rosettes out of crepe paper to decorate the window of their Evertonian household on a match-day.

That was before the walk to Goodison Park, where she was intoxicated by the smells and sounds of the ground, before cheering on her heroes such as Bob Latchford and Graeme Sharp.

Now as deputy chief executive of her beloved Toffees, Denise is charged with making match days memorable for another royal blue generation, and the former university lecturer admits her own cherished recollections come flooding back when she opens the window of her Goodison office hours before a game, and hears the clippety-clop of horses’ hooves outside the ground.

This season the Blues have wowed fans with a series of special themed match days, and as Denise plans an afternoon with a retro twist against Hull City on October 19, she is as passionate as ever about her role.

“The main things are noise, colour and atmosphere,” she says.

“We want to create a sense of excitement, particularly for our junior fans. We want to extend the match day.

“Obviously we know that the most memorable match days are when we get the points on the pitch – everything we do is about football – but once the match starts we can’t influence that. Before and after the game we can, and I think we need to.

“We want Evertonians and anyone who visits the ground to get a memorable experience.

“I’ll always remember making blue and white rosettes with my sisters at the table, and draping the window in blue and white crepe paper.

“I remember the horses, the smell of the chips and how cold it was. Those memories stay with you about the match as well as the game itself.

“We all have special match days but mine were usually derbies. My immediate family were all Evertonians but my wider family was mixed, so my lasting memories are getting up with that excited feeling.

“We’d have the ECHO up in the window as we dressed it along with trading cards of our favourite players.

“We’d all do the same thing, and then walk down to the match red and blue together. It makes you nostalgic; the sweets you got only when you went to the match like cough candy twists. It’s all those little things we need to make magical for a young person.

“I’m really looking forward to the derby coming up because we have some interesting things for that game planned.”

The club held a Fan Fiesta in honour of Spanish manager Roberto Martinez before the victory over Chelsea last month, and Denise hopes the Spanish dancers and Iberian food on offer outside the ground will stay with the young fans from that day.

“They may remember the Spanish fiesta, or having paella for the first time,” she says. “Our fans get behind us and we want them to let us know how these events go. We don’t want to prescribe activities for them but we want to give them opportunities.

“We did that to welcome Roberto and having his background gave us the opportunity to offer something that little bit different.”

Denise says she is aware of not treading too much on tradition.

“We know there’s a tradition to match days. We don’t want to sabotage that experience,” she says.

“We’ve carried out a lot of research, going to other grounds and looking how they do things.

“We’ve looked at what works and doesn’t elsewhere. We’ve already got people asking to come and look at our match days.

“It comes with a risk because you can be criticised for it but if we do something that doesn’t work so well we just don’t do it again. I tell my team not to be afraid of trying.

“We are about to visit Borussia Dortmund and see how they do it at their stadium. They have an all day thing with picnics on the car park, but our weather could make that difficult. They have trailer parks and make a long event of it.

“The main thing is to offer Evertonians something they are comfortable with. We’re a city that loves children; we love them and invest in them and Scousers will get behind their children. If they want to do things we’ll do it with them. It’s passing on the legacy of football. So your child takes on that love of your club.

“And we have staff across the board who want to make that happen. The majority of our employees are Evertonians so their raison d’etre is to get that game going.

“The staff we have are incredible – they’re special people.

“They love the club and the goodwill is in place before they start the job anyway.”

Club charity gets new HQ

Denise Barrett Baxendale, Everton's deputy chief executive

Everton’s award-winning charity is to get a new headquarters near Goodison Park.

The hugely successful Everton In The Community, spearheaded by Denise Barrett-Baxendale, is planning for the centre which will offer health tests for supporters, a learning centre for children, and sports facilities for its many initiatives.

Mrs Barrett-Baxendale spoke of her excitement at the forthcoming development, as she revealed the charity – which was recently celebrated at a special event at Westminster held by Walton MP Steve Rotheram – is also poised to create 30 new jobs after securing a £1.5m contract to target youth unemployment in the city. She said: “It was nice leaving Westminster that evening with Andy Burnham saying how wonderful it was to have people talking about Everton there.

“Three years ago our charity had about 40 staff and now we have 91 full-time staff, 61 casual staff and 188 volunteers. We’re ready to appoint another 30 staff over the next six weeks. It’s great to create jobs in the city.

“We’re going to develop a home for our community scheme close to the ground too. It will allow us to do health testing for fans on a match day and non-matchdays, also with a memory clinic for our dementia programme.

“There will be sports facilities, a computer room, and a homework corner.”

Mrs Barrett-Baxendale added that the charity, which has won 57 awards over recent years, has become the standard bearer for other football club schemes.

“I’ve been asked to talk in the House of Lords and we’re very proud of the work we do,” she said. “That’s not being boastful; we’ve worked hard and have a genuine connection with what’s right and proper and how we should serve Evertonians and people who need our help.

“Evertonians are great in getting involved and supporting us. We’ve just had a fan who left us over £50,000 in his will for our disability programme.

“As a Blue I love going down to London and speaking to significant influences and talking about Everton.

“Even those who aren’t Evertonians in the city will tell me they love what we do in the community. I wouldn’t be arrogant enough to say we’re the best in the country but we’re in the top two and I don’t know who number two is!”

Retro day to take fans back in time

A toffee lady at Goodison Park

There will be a range of retro-themed events from the 1960s, 70s and 80s before and during the Hull game on Saturday, October 19.

The 1960s were hugely significant for Everton; it was a decade in which fans saw the emergence of the Holy Trinity, an FA Cup win in 1966, a sixth First Division Championship title in 1963 and the introduction of the Club’s iconic Z Cars anthem.

In the 1970s, the Blues secured their seventh First Division Championship title and the 1980s brought the Club’s most successful decade yet, with Everton winning two further First Division Championship titles in 1985 and 1987, an FA Cup in 1984, and of course, the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1985.

To celebrate these momentous occasions, the club will be holding a raft of activities – all with a retro theme. The matchday programme will be specially produced in a 1960s style and there will be some classic highlights played out on the big screens before kick-off.

In the Fan Zone there will be a sixties tribute band, retro snacks and giveaways and before the match there will be a Players’ Parade featuring Blues stars from yesteryear, including fans’ favourites from the decades.

To celebrate Everton’s retro day, the Blues have teamed up with the ECHO to run an exciting competition to rediscover fans’ football photos from days gone by.

At the game, on Saturday, October 19 (3pm), there will be a range of retro-themed events from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s before and during the fixture – and we want you to be part of the proceedings by sharing your candid camera moments and be in with a chance of winning a very special prize to boot!

The fans who supply the best five retro images, will win a special VIP prize, which includes:

Two tickets to Everton versus Hull City

A VIP behind the scenes stadium tour before the game with club legend Graeme Sharp

The opportunity to have their picture taken pitchside with more legends

A 1960s replica shirt signed by Howard Kendall

So, do you have snaps of you and your friends at the 1966 FA Cup final? Travelling back from Rotterdam in ’85? Or celebrating the Blues’ title-winning campaign in 1970?

Or just images of you from days gone by in an old Everton shirt or scarf in the aftermath of a Blues’ win.

If so we would love to see them!

To enter this fantastic competition, email your retro image, plus a caption and your contact details (name, email address and day time telephone number) to photos@evertonfc.com or post them on social media using #EFCretro.

All entries must be received by 8pm on Wednesday, October 16.

The winners will be announced on Friday, October 18, on evertonfc.com and in the Liverpool ECHO.